It’s last year, April 30, Las Vegas, Caesar’s Forum. Melanie Salata-Fitch waits patiently, for one specific NFL draft pick, the same selection, always—the very last one. Her pops, the late Paul Salata, sold the wider sports world on the relevance of that particular selection. He sold it by tying that pick to a tag that accomplished the opposite of its literal meaning. The final NFL draft choice became his vision, Mr. Irrelevant, starting in 1976, adding modest intrigue to the end of what’s now a full-blown, three-day, wall-to-wall-coverage extravaganza.
San Francisco holds the final selection—and, bonus, that was her father’s team. Plus, in the portion of the draft most heavy with exchanges, the 49ers haven’t traded it away. Per tradition, a Salata will announce the choice, which fell to Fitch after her father died in 2021. She turns and sees the last pick in ’22 walking toward her. He’s cute, she thinks. Gotta celebrate cute eyes, right? Sure!
Mr. Cute Eyes is Brock Purdy, which is relevant for a whole lotta reasons. He’s a quarterback, and, for a tradition that celebrates fringe NFL prospects among fringe NFL prospects, QBs tend to receive a little more patience, which often leads to longer (relative) careers. They also, due to the public nature of their careers, tend to participate, willingly and happily, in what’s known as Irrelevant Week, an outgrowth of Mr. Irrelevant, Part II of her father’s vision. Still, Fitch says, “I wasn’t doing any interviews before the season started.”
